NORTHWEST COLORADO NEWS FOR SUNDAY, MAY 26TH

Posted onMay 26, 2013byKRAI|Comments Off on NORTHWEST COLORADO NEWS FOR SUNDAY, MAY 26TH

GRAND OLDE WEST DAYS UNDERWAY

Grand Olde West Days in Craig continues today. Cowboy Church takes place at the fairgrounds this morning at 8. The Annual Draft Horse Show and Competition takes place at the fairgrounds at 9 this morning. The Downtown parade starts at 3 and will be followed by the Grand Futures Street Dance and the Western Barbecue. Memorial Services will be held at the Craig Cemetery at 11. Tomorrow’s downtown street events will be from 10 to 5. For more information on the weekend’s events, click the Grand Olde West Days button on this page.

BENNET URGES PASSAGE OF FARM BILL

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet spoke on the Senate floor yesterday to highlight the importance of passing a full five-year Farm Bill that provides certainty for Colorado producers and rural communities. Bennet underscored the revamped conservation title that makes critical reforms for farming and ranching families trying to protect the agricultural heritage of their land. In his remarks, Bennet said, “This revamped conservation title is huge for rural America and for my State. It is critical for farming and ranching families looking to keep their land in agriculture generation to generation. It is incredibly important for our hunters and sportsmen. It is important for anybody–which is most of us–who cares about the long-term health of our soil, our air, and our water. These conservation measures help us improve the efficiency of production agriculture and improve the quality of the environment in farm country. We recognize that keeping these landscapes in their historical, undeveloped state is an economic driver for our entire State and for our entire region–for tourism and for wildlife habitat.”

GARDNER WANTS AUDIT OF FAA

After years of lost paperwork and now weeks of repeated attempts to contact the Federal Aviation Administration about negligence at the agency’s local office in Colorado, Congressman Cory Gardner (CO-04) is still waiting for a reply to his constituents, and he’s fed up with the lack of response. His office has been working on several cases where delays have been long and the FAA is unresponsive. Gardner is requesting that the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation conduct a full audit of the FAA’s regional office to find out why it has been negligent in processing permit applications, including losing them, for commercial and agricultural usage. FAA’s permits are critical to assisting rural communities throughout Colorado. small planes provide a vital service in personal transportation and are used for business purposes such as the spraying of fields by agricultural aircraft. According to Gardner, these small aircraft operators are unable to obtain permits, given no timeframe for approval, and have been treated disrespectfully by the District Office. Gardner hopes to work with the Inspector General to correct these problems and return proper services to Colorado’s communities.

CSP AND CPW TEAM UP AGAINST INTOXICATED DRIVERS/BOATERS

Stay safe on the road and safe on the water is the message for Coloradans from the Colorado State Patrols and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Summer of Safety partnership campaign, announced yesterday. Colonel Scott Hernandez, Chief of the CSP, and CPW Director Rick Cables officially kicked off the unofficial beginning of summer this Memorial Day weekend by pledging their commitment to remove impaired drivers from Colorado roadways and waterways across the state. The Summer of Safety campaign will involve increased enforcement and public education activities by the two state agencies and will be conducted through the Labor Day holiday.

WEATHER SERVICE OFFERS STORM SPOTTER TRAINING IN STEAMBOAT

The National Weather Service will provide Storm Spotter training next month in Steamboat. The training is a great opportunity to learn weather terms and patterns from forecasters, who will, at times, call on those they’ve trained to provide them with information pertinent to their forecasts. The training is free, and open to everyone. It takes place June 8th from 1 to 3 in the community room of Yampa Valley Electric Association. For more information, click here.